Here is some faction lore that I've written for Eternal Essence, but that wasn't used. It might come in handy here. I've removed the Eternal Essence-specific bits.

(Dark) Elves:

Mythological base: personal and collective unconscious
Philosophy: It is in the Shadow that your true self can be found; seek out your fears for they illuminate the path to your growth
Symbol/Emblem: the Shadow (don’t ask me how to draw it)
Colours: black and purple

Creation Myth

In the beginning, the Sun’s brightness filled the world. It illuminated the furthest reaches of the Sky. Every speck of dust, every grain of sand, every drop of water bathed in its radiant glow. But the Sun was unfulfilled. His own brilliance blinded him. What was he like underneath all that light? What was the world like? What features did they both have? And just how bright was he when brightness was all that he ever saw? His discontent led him to withdraw from the world. And so the Night was born.

The Sun was awed by the spectacle. For the first time, he saw the world as it truly was, not covered by his blinding mask. Freed from his overpowering stare, other beings started shining with their own light – the Moons, and then the Stars. The Sun was delighted to see someone shine other than himself. Their fledgling efforts made him admire his own brilliance all the more.

So great was his joy that he gave life to creatures with whom he could share it. He enveloped them with fierce rays during the day, and then left them to the tender care of the Night. His children welcomed his life-giving presence that nourished them with food and kept them warm. But they did not welcome the Night. They illuminated it with artificial light, slept through it, feared it. They imagined it filled with horrors of every kind.

The Sun was saddened by their reaction. He knew what great boon they were missing. So he created another group of children – his lastborn – with whom he shared the secret of their creation. He impressed on them the miracle of darkness and all the potential hidden within the Void. Then he sent them out into the world that they may also bring his firstborn children to understand.

But so great was their dread that they lashed out with fury and violence. And they struck down those sent to them until they hid in the world’s shadowy depths. There, they bid their time, waiting for the world to be ready to welcome the Night, and take a long probing gaze at its own Shadow.

History

In the old days, elves lived in the lush wilderness. They observed the diurnal, lunar and seasonal cycles, and developed rituals with which to celebrate their passing. They blessed each change, welcoming what it had to bring.

Their accepting nature arose suspicion among those not of their kind. When crops failed from lack of rain, or livestock was found slaughtered by hungry beasts in the night, their complicity was immediately suspected. Others didn’t understand the elves’ mysterious rituals, but they were certain that nothing good could come of them. Elves started getting blamed for any misfortune that befell others. They were banished, driven from their lands, or tortured and killed.

Fearing for their lives, the remaining elves fled beneath their world into the safety of the subterranean passages and caves. There, in the sheltered darkness, they did what they could to restore a semblance of normality to their shattered lives. They found nourishment, built homes, and adapted old rituals to new surroundings. It was a testament to their wise and gentle nature that the transition took place without taking vengeful vows.

What they did do was become adept at concealing themselves and using magic to hide from prying eyes. Many a time, a mob of angry villagers would gather together, only to lose sight of what they had come to do, or be scattered by howling screams coming from the forest. The Haunted Forests, they started calling them, and stayed away. Over time, the forests recovered and grew, providing elves with shelter above ground.

While being marooned underground, elves have lost touch with the Sun, and its light-hearted spontaneity, exuberance and laughter. Life has become serious to them, and their mission all-consuming. Young elves prowl the forests at night, ensuring that unwanted intruders are kept at bay. Older, more experienced ones leave the safety of the forest to travel to foreign lands. There, they look for any signs of danger that these people might turn on them again. They also seek out the dissatisfied and the downtrodden and help them discover the enchantment of the night.

Traditions

Elves greatly value the feminine qualities of compassion, quiet intuition and nurturing patience. Many of their rituals and traditions have been designed around these virtues. They spend much of their time in solitude, quietly exploring their own depths. They frequently engage in meditation, and go on vision fasts in search of guidance. Self control and personal growth are paramount to them, but not control over others. They have learned long ago that others cannot be made to grow against their will.

The only time they will resort to bending others to their will is when they are feeling threatened. Many would-be attackers were driven mad by the horrors and illusions planted in their minds. If their foes proved resistant to manipulation, elves turned their attention to controlling the minds of monstrous beasts, whom they then unleashed upon their enemies.

Elves have retained many of the ancient rituals with which they celebrated the passing cycles, only now they take place infrequently, in the secluded glades deep inside the forest.

Social organisation

Elves live in small isolated communities that are the surviving remnants of the tribes that once flourished in forests and plains. The communities are not extensive due to the limited underground space that is available to them. Contact with others of their kind is sporadic, mostly taking the form of chance encounters. Elves have started working to overcome both of these obstacles, now that they have become accustomed to their new circumstances.

Elves have formed a matriarchal society due to the value that they place on feminine qualities. Even their imposing mastery of dark magic has found expression in protective and nurturing uses. Each community is ruled by a Shadow Council comprised of the most senior witches, and sometimes also warlocks. To qualify, a witch or a warlock must have thorough self-knowledge, must have made a substantial contribution to her community, must have thoroughly developed magical powers, and must have intimate knowledge of people who live in neighbouring lands.

Events

• The rise of an elf underground city deep within their territory, inside the artificially extended network of tunnels and chambers of the naturally formed cave complex. It leads to a revival of the elf culture of old
• Elves stumble upon the existence of collective unconscious, their ability to shape it, and the fact that they share it to some degree with other races
• Elves infiltrate the power centres of the neighbouring races. They use their influence to steer these races away from battling enemies and towards inner struggles

Narrative Themes

• Darkness is not merely absence of light, but emptiness that teems with creative potential
• The journey of self-discovery is a perilous descent to the underworld (personal and collective unconscious), but one that must be undertaken if one is to individuate (become both distinct and whole). My purpose with these two themes is to provide counterweight to world religions that are preoccupied with ascent/upperworld
• It is much more difficult, and much more rewarding, to gaze deeply in the mirror than to lash out at others for their perceived wrongdoings

That conception is not hard to represent, if we don't take it literally. Speaking of the motivation, look inside to get enlightenment, so the symbol must show what's inside of something, even if that something is the Light. It might be even a heart (not that silly shape thing), but showing a silhouette of where the heart is, given that the heart is where one keeps secrets, as they say.

The rest I'll read later at home. hoho

"There’s nothing to fear but fear itself and maybe some mild to moderate jellification of bones." Cave Johnson, Portal 2.

Dwarves have been craftsmen and metalworkers as far back as they can remember. There are legends of a time before time when dwarves inhabited the whole wide world, tirelessly experimenting with different mining and forging techniques. As other creatures were created, grew and multiplied, conflicts arose. The dwarf primary allegiance was to their craft, not to the quarrels and intrigues of the other races. They fought to maintain their way of life, but were gradually worn down by the struggle. They withdrew to the most inhospitable and mineral-rich regions of the world – where they could honour their traditions in peace and obscurity.

Over time, they have perfected the art of stone and metal working. Their hammers are uniquely suited to the task. Drawing on elemental forces and shaping them to the craftsman’s will, they heat and cool the objects of their work, imbue them with magical power, or simply hammer them into submission.

Traditions

Dwarven society is semi-nomadic. Their towns lie in the mountains, but during summer, while the valleys are lush and green and the grasslands filled with roaming herds, they spill from the highlands to set up summer camps all along the lake shores. They take advantage of the warm weather to grow crops and hunt animals that will nourish them through the cold winter months. It is a jovial time when people from different towns and clans mingle, but also one marked with long days and hard work. Even some members of the coastal clans undertake the journey, keen to try out their spear-throwing skills on land animals and fresh-water fish. Rune priests preside over the frequent festivities. Journeying to the crater lake presents them with an opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the most respected – and feared – power in the land – the volcano that spews lava, and with it some secrets of metalworking and craftsmanship.

Summer camps are broken up in autumn to give dwarves enough time to haul their supplies back into the mountains before the cold and snow set in. Once home, they settle into the winter routine of mining minerals and forging them into ornaments, sturdy weapons and dazzling artefacts. Forging contests are sporadically held to help break the monotony of the sheltered lifestyle. Trappers occasionally venture outside in an effort to supplement the diminishing food supplies. The more determined – or desperate – of the rune priests undertake pilgrimages to the volcano at this time, hoping that the frozen landscape will purify them so that they can be more receptive to profound visions in the land of volcanic fire. A few others also leave the snugness of their winter homes, but instead of heading for the volcano, they seek the highest mountain summits. There, they study the stars of the winter sky, sensing but not understanding their deep connection with them.

A number of dwarves have opted out of their brethren’s sedentary lifestyle in favour of adventuring across the lands. They carry with them rare artefacts, which they use to finance their journey.

Social organisation

Dwarves are organised into clans and guilds. Clans reflect their geographical location and guilds their work orientation. Both have elected leaders. Guild leader is the most senior master of the craft. Clan leader is the most respected guild leader. There is no supreme leader of all the dwarves.

Young dwarves start out as apprentices in their chosen craft. They work with artisans – skilled craftsmen with many years of experience behind them. As they learn the skills specific to their craft, and in the process discover and hone their unique talents, they themselves develop into artisans. After spending their most productive years practising their craft with great passion, creativity and flair, they mature into masters of the craft. They have come to intimately know not only the heart and soul of their chosen trade, but discern the thread that it weaves with others to form the fabric of their society, and intuitively see how to chart its future.

Dwarves are not aggressive, but they will stoically stand their ground and protect what is dear to them. They have erected sturdy fortresses made of stone and iron in the most forbidding places to keep intruders out of their lands. Subterranean passageways that readily lend themselves to traps act as a further deterrent.

Mythological base: East Asian
Philosophy: It is immoral to go against tradition; one must obey the natural order, and seek to change oneself instead of the world
Symbol/Emblem: Ying-yang
Colours: Orange (saffron) and silky gold

Creation Myth

Across the immensity of time and space, they came. Drawn in by the land's breathtaking beauty, they set their carriages down on hills and mountaintops. They stepped out to take in the nature, and they mingled with its creatures. We knew not where they came from.

As time passed, they began to settle. They unleashed great power upon the world. They transformed the landscape to suit their taste. Grandiose monuments were constructed all across the land. They used magic to shape them, but they used our labour, too. As to their purpose, they never revealed to us what it might be.

Traditions

The human drive to change oneself instead of the world owes to early interaction with the elves, before they were expelled from human lands and forced underground. Humans internalised the elves’ initial inward focus, but missed its purpose. This has caused them to bend themselves to society instead of purging its influence to uncover the authentic self, and preserve established tradition instead of working to renew it.

Narrative Themes

• A culture has no rights, expectations or demands save those we give it
• For a culture to flourish, it has to be periodically renewed to suit changing circumstances
• There can be no negotiation between culture and the larger world context in which it exists; the culture either has to adapt, or it will perish.
• For how long do you cling to existing values and traditions before acknowledging that they no longer work, and are causing your world to unravel?

The undead tale begins with count Dracula. A learned man of high standing in the human society, he had the misfortune of living on one of the estates in the southern parts of the human kingdom, close to the elven forests. He too was shaken by the forests’ haunted stories. Unlike his countrymen, however, the dread that initially gripped him gave way to curiosity. Knowing that his servants and soldiers would be of no use to him on the journey, he set off to investigate the forests alone.

By the time the elves spotted him, he knew that something was amiss with the ghost story and was eager to find out more. Elves, in turn, were grateful to finally meet an outsider who seemed genuinely interested in their way of life. Impressed with his knowledge of the world, its people, and wizardly skills, they decided to share with him the nature of their assignment. They taught him the dark arts with which to unlock the gates of the underworld. They expected such a knowledgeable man to recognise their potential and use them for his own growth, as well as that of others. But they made a mistake. They mistook his knowledge for wisdom.

He recognised the immense potential of the elf magic, but to soothe his vain fears, not intensify them. He was a man with position and power, but without an acolyte or an heir. It looked like all his estates, all his titles and prestige, would pass on to distant relatives. Without a worthy apprentice, many of his discoveries in the world of wizardry would probably be lost. The elf magic has given him an alternative.

As soon as he got home, he threw himself into study and experimentation. He perfected the skill of drawing sustenance from living things in his environment to bolster his own life force. As his efforts yielded success, his ambition grew. Longevity was no longer enough; he wanted power over others, to assert his authority over all inferior beings, not just those working at his estates. He wanted to rule.

His experiments soon started involving more than just himself. A farm labourer would occasionally disappear, never to be found again. A grave would be discovered opened, with the coffin empty. The vegetation near his castle started dying. As his power grew, he realised that he would need lieutenants to carry out his plans. He lured other nobles in the region to his side, or turned them into mindless automatons if they resisted. He taught his followers what they needed to know of the dark arts to be his devoted servants, but not so much that they would rise up to challenge him. Then he unleashed them upon the world.

And so the undead faction was born.

Traditions

Necromancers exist outside of the circle of life. They consume life force – living energy that they drain from living people, animals and plants – in order to sustain themselves, but they give nothing back to their environment. Once the energy is consumed and the creature dies, they move on to the next one. Energy that escapes from them (gradually or abruptly from being killed) cannot be reclaimed by the environment; it is lost to the Void.

As the undead grow in power, so the world gradually dies. They have to consume it to sustain themselves, but if it dies, so do they.

Necromancers have several rituals that they use to drain life force from the living world. Some target living beings directly. Others have a field effect that sucks life force from every living creature within its sphere of influence. The latter is their principal mechanism for extending the undead influence into hostile territory. As plants in a region die, the living dwellers have no choice but to attack the undead outpost that is draining life from them, or leave the area.

Necromancers have a strong disdain for the living and consider them inferior. They see the living as sentimental fools who have become attached to their current physical form, or weaklings who are afraid to tap true sources of power.

Social organisation

The undead are ruled by count Dracula. As the first and most accomplished necromancer, he holds absolute power. Other necromancers are close associates who have risen through the ranks of liches to be given the responsibility of carrying out his plans.

Necromancers’ closest aides are liches – people who crave knowledge and power, and have devoted themselves to the study of dark magic. They are in turn assisted by vampires – nobles who serve Dracula willingly and have retained their free will as a result. The same cannot be said for skeletons, zombies or dragons, all of which are mindless automatons animated with the necromancers’ dark magic.

The powerful life force fields that necromancers radiate attract ghosts of the deceased from the lower Astral Plane. Hungry for more life in the physical form, they linger around necromancers and will do their bidding in return for life force scraps.

Angels of death are not being controlled by such base needs. They simply find the arrangement with the necromancers useful. Necromancers take every opportunity to end the lives of living creatures, and angels of death are all too happy to oblige.

Events

• Necromancers discover more efficient methods of harvesting life force from living creatures, and ways to amplify their life-draining fields so that they extend further into the living lands
• The necromancer who discovers a way to harvest life force without killing, and consequently advocates a modest, sustainable lifestyle, is shunned by fellow necromancers who fear corruption of their beliefs and way of life. He starts living on the run in an effort to escape them. A small band of like-minded followers forms around him, as do isolated support groups in various parts of undead lands

Narrative Themes

• When your goal in life is to stave off death, you forfeit much of its wonder and beauty. There is a parallel here with the modern medical establishment
• Growth in power is dangerous when not accompanied by the corresponding growth in wisdom. There is a parallel here with the modern education system
• Endless greed cannot be satisfied in a finite world. There is a parallel here with the modern economy
• When you believe yourself to be superior, you behave in ways that are inferior. There is a parallel here with the modern environmental destruction
• Irresponsible experimentation threatens to unbalance the natural order. There is a parallel here with the modern scientific establishment
• It is horrifying that someone like Dracula came along, but even more horrifying that so many people went along with him. There is a parallel here with groupthink and modern media (propaganda)

Mythological base: animals, Eskimos
Philosophy: You will know your friends when the ice starts breaking. Woe be to the soldier who, in order to display an act of personal heroism, leaves his brothers in arms open to attack
Symbol/Emblem: Snowflake, orc snowman Colours: white, light (icy) blue

Creation Myth

At the dawn of time, the world was ruled by Wind. The majestic clouds, the endless seas, stones and dirt, all bowed to his will. All, that is, except the Mountain. Immense and strong, the Mountain defiantly stood his ground. Howl as he may, the Wind could make no impression on it. The Mountain’s defiance infuriated him. “How is it that the whole world bows to me, but the Mountain stands tall and laughs in my face?” The Wind was determined to assert his authority, but he needed help.

He noticed that water, for all her fickleness, held enormous power. Its turbulent flows could carry away swathes of land and deliver them into the Sea. When frozen, she had the strength to shape the landscape any way she wished. She might be the key to subduing the Mountain, but how does he elicit her help? He knew she wouldn’t give it willingly.

The Wind devised a plan. He waited for the Sea to fall asleep. Then he started howling, picking up in intensity as he went along. Waters arose. But instead of whipping up a mighty Hurricane that would surely have awakened the Sea from her slumber, he only disturbed the surface. He lifted individual waves and carefully sculpted them into intricate shapes. Then he deposited them onto the snowy land. He breathed into them deeply, giving them the breath of life.

And the Wind said to them: “You will have the impetuous force of the Wind, and the enduring force of the Sea. Learn to wield them together, and someday, you will rule over the Mountain.”

“What have you done, Wind?” the Sea roused and demanded to know. She saw the people on the land and did not approve. But these were her children; she could not forsake them. She ordered the glaciers to part and empty into her. Freed from their icy grip, the land sprouted grass and trees and plants of every kind. Animals came to feed on the plants. The people tended both, and they grew, and prospered.

They built boats with sails to navigate in the Wind and explore the boundless expanse of the Sea. They inhabited the snowy plains and built sturdy homes of ice, stone and wood. And they gazed longingly into the distant rocky wall, the Wind’s words echoing in their memories: “Someday, you will rule over the Mountain.”

History

Beastmen have inhabited the frozen lands as far back as their collective memories go. This land is their inheritance from father Wind and mother Sea. It is a harsh home, but one that they have become well adapted to. From their beginning at the glacial land in the south west, they have spread out across the whole region. The migration has resulted in their society becoming fragmented into clans.

Most of their history was spent in isolation from other races. It was only in recent times that long boat voyages along the western and southern coasts have revealed the existence of other people in distant lands, past the seemingly insurmountable mountain barrier.

Their isolation has led the beastmen to form a close bond with the animal inhabitants of their lands. Admiring the diverse animal forms and seeing great potential in them, they have uplifted many animal species over an incredibly long period of time, but none as much as cyclops and wyverns.

Traditions

Beastmen have very little patience for elaborate conventions and traditions. Because disaster – avalanche, ice breaking – can manifest in an instant, they prefer silence and alertness to chattiness, and straightforward, honest talking to insinuations and wordiness.

They tend not to dwell on the past. Any wrongdoings are quickly forgotten in favour of focusing on the present needs. An exception is made for clan members who display unwillingness or inability to support fellow clan members in time of danger; they are exiled from the clan, never to be allowed back in again.

Much of their time is spent in playful exuberance. They have personified and revere each part of their environment, Wind and Sea above all. Living in the moment comes naturally to them. This makes them impulsive and largely unable to anticipate long-term consequences of their actions. Preparing for the coming winter – when they have to stockpile sufficient food reserves to sustain them through the extraordinarily cold season – is about as much planning as they can manage. Their poorly developed cognitive faculties cause them to display an intensity of emotion that they have difficulty suppressing. Individual beastmen have been known to die from grief and loneliness following the death of their loved ones.

Living in a harsh environment has taught beastmen to stand together and look out for each other. They have many stories and legends of peril that was overcome by individual beastmen sacrificing themselves for the good of the clan. Standing together has also enabled them to bring down beasts far mightier than themselves. They value strength and courage, but they value loyalty even more. The fortitude to endure the elements is also highly prized.

Social organisation

To adapt to the frigid climate, beastmen have had to adopt some of the ways of the snow animals that live there. Their society is modelled on the animals’ ones. It exhibits features that are a blend of what they saw various animal species do, combined with their own natural inclinations.

Different clans occupy different territories. Due to local differences in plant, animal and climate characteristics, as well as to reduce competition, they have specialised in different ways of acquiring food, clothing, tools and shelter. They are fiercely territorial and will not hesitate to fight to defend their land. When members from different clans meet, they keep each other at a distance, careful to avoid provoking an attack.

A clan is led by a single male and a single female chief. Chiefs are partly chosen by clan members, and partly assert their authority through physical dominance. They are expected to heed the council of fellow clan members, but also act assertively when the situation demands it. To have their leadership position recognised, they must demonstrate great physical strength, courage and resilience, show themselves skilled in protecting and providing for the clan, and be willing to put the wellbeing of the clan above all else. A chief who fails at any of these tasks will lose his or her following and be replaced.

Characters

• A lone wolf who has been exiled for his lying and cowardice. He has accepted his character deficiencies, while fundamentally outgrowing his youthful flaws without realising it

Events

• Encounters between beastmen on the one hand, and dwarves and elves on the other, don’t go well. Beastmen perceive the two races as convoluted and deceptive, while they in turn see beastmen as simplistic, vulgar and lacking in social graces

Narrative Themes

• Don’t assume that the life of a member of another species is without value just because you cannot imagine what it might be. You cannot know what that life is like, or what it might evolve into. I’m using this to counter cruel or indifferent treatment of animals in our society
• Pay no heed to what people say, but instead observe what they do
• Leave grudges in the past, lest they detract from the present
• Drop your masks, so that everyone, including yourself, can get to know and cherish the real you
• Can people reinvent themselves after displaying major deficiencies of character?

Ok. Can I propose a creation of official and canonical lore thread, where only the canon things would be placed so that any lore thing can stem from that? Both Sandro and I need to now what is official and what is not, so that we know from what to start.

Another suggestion: because the official lore is likely to change over time as we work on the game, it might be difficult to maintain the official version in the forum setting. An alternative is to maintain it at Heroic Wikia. Then we can keep the forum for discussion purposes, and update the Wikia site with the outcomes of those discussions.

Can anyone think of a better name for the Frost faction town than Glacier? It should be something that they construct, not just find and settle in. The only alternative I can think of is Palace. It has potential, but it also seems a bit out of place.

Hmm... After a negative knee-jerk reaction, I must say that Halls actually sounds promising. Mostly because it can be easily tied to lore that has the Frost town comprised of a network of halls inside a glacier or some other natural ice structure.

I like Alcazar because it sounds sophisticated; I wanted the Frost dwellers to live in some kind of ice palace. But yes, it sounds like it belongs in a hot, arid and stony North-African setting rather than an Arctic one.

Groovy wrote:Hmm... After a negative knee-jerk reaction, I must say that Halls actually sounds promising. Mostly because it can be easily tied to lore that has the Frost town comprised of a network of halls inside a glacier or some other natural ice structure.

That's exactly what I had in mind. It was a name I used back when I proposed stuff for Heroes games. It was the dwarven Faction.

But yes, it sounds like it belongs in a hot, arid and stony North-African setting rather than an Arctic one.

I wouldn't go that far. The name is just strange to me. My mind goes directly to Spanish castles.

"There’s nothing to fear but fear itself and maybe some mild to moderate jellification of bones." Cave Johnson, Portal 2.